Tree Climbing 101

Another excellent week of work. The weather down here is ridiculously nice! Its rained once and I don't mind that because on rainy days we don't have to work and yet the day still counts towards our hours! How cool is that?!

This week I finished checking out all the salamanders ponds on the base. Didn't find any new populations and really didn't see much water, but I definitely got my fill of smilax (a charming thorny plant that is way to easy to get tangled in). I was in a wetland that was surrounded by a wall of smilax. I got in by walking across a downed tree (basically it was a bridge over an impenetrable wall) and then decided to try to go out another way. Big mistake! It took me a good 15 minutes to move about 15 feet. You know things are bad when you start swearing directly at a plant! I had much rage!

Okay and the other part of my week was spent learning to climb trees! That part was truly awesome! We look truly awesome too in our bright yellow harnesses and orange vests. The harness has a belt on it that wraps around the trunk of the tree. We climb using narrow ladders that are in 10 ft sections. The rungs are wide enough for one foot at a time. You set the ladder directly against the tree trunk so its completely vertical. It was really freaky at first because you don't hold on to the ladder. You can't hold on to the ladder because nothing but your own weight is anchoring it to the ground. You actually lean back from the ladder against your belt and the tension in the belt holds you in place and then you can start climbing. Lean forward, flip your belt up, lean back and climb, lean forward, flip your belt up and climb a few more feet. The worst part is adding the second segment to the ladder. I have a hard time balancing the weight of the ladder when I'm in the air and the thing ends up wobbling all over the place before I get it locked in. I'm building upper body strength!

The whole reason we are climbing is to clean out some artifical cavities the program drilled last year and get them ready for the woodpeckers to use. We scrape out any sap in the hole and use wood putty to fill in the areas where the sap is coming from. The work isn't really challenging, but learning to balance all your equipment while your 21 ft in the air is. Its really annoying when you drop something. And of course in the beginning that happened to me all the time! But I'm getting the hang of it and am really enjoying my time suspended in a tree. Its such an interesting view of the world!

My only real frustration with this job right now is the housing situation. I went to look at a place yesterday that was 500 a month and it was a cesspool: a creepy, trashed out run down one room apartment. I can't live in a place like that. So I fear I'm going to be sending a lot on rent. So much for saving some money!